News from 2013

As we’ve previously reported, Obits’ triumphant return to public activity will officially be September 10th, the release date of their third and, honestly, best damn record yet, Bed & Bugs. Listen to track one, side one of B & B, “Taste the Diff”, in the accompanying player.

We’re just under the three-week mark until the masses (our goal is to attract “the masses”) descend on the great Georgetown neighborhood of our beautiful and bountiful (cherries, apples, crab, grunge, et cetera) city, Seattle, WA, to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of consecutive years of business operation in what we’re calling the Sub Pop Silver Jubilee. On July 13th, a large number of bands in the immediate and extended Sub Pop family will populate a few stages scattered around Georgetown in this entirely FREE-TO-ENTER celebration of ourselves. In the previous several weeks, we’ve been introducing/reintroducing you to the artists playing the festival in a weekly column we’ve been calling Getting To Know Us; this week, we’re here to tell you a bit about the Toronto band, METZ, and a legendary Seattle-based band called The Mudhoney.

Canadian good guys Hayden, Alex, and Chris are the building blocks of METZ, the Toronto-based noise mongers. They punish ears with the basic formula of drums, bass, guitar and vocals, but they manage to do it in a way completely unto themselves and in a manner that will have you saying after every song, “Thank you, sir, may I have another”, and they will oblige. Watch the video for “Wet Blanket” from their 2012 debut, METZ.

Mudhoney are a difficult band to introduce/reintroduce to you in such short form because of their legendary status and their lynch pin-importance to the formation (and sustainment) of Sub Pop—which is to say, I’m going to blow it trying. Mudhoney have been a band for 25 years now, have released a lot of records, toured endlessly, and were one of the triggers that placed Seattle squarely in the center of the universe in the early nineties. They’re also possibly the only band that left Sub Pop for a different record label and later got back together with us so we could continue to make sweet music together—if Sub Pop had a spouse, it’s certainly Mudhoney. Like I said, I was going to blow it trying to tell you about the Mudhoney’s greatness, and I have succeeded in that. So, please just watch the accompanying video for “I Like It Small” from Vanishing Point and than you should probably watch the video for my favorite Mudhoney song ever, “Good Enough”, from 1991’s Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge.

METZ and Mudhoney, two bands by themselves that could fill the entire neighborhood of Georgetown with “masses”, but only two of many bands playing the FREE Sub Pop Silver Jubilee. Join us July 13th for the festivities; your ears will be ringing with bliss when it’s all over.

Take a quick, behind the scenes look at the temporarily-returned-to-its-former-glory Sub Pop Mega Mart in this video honoring the classic, short-form documentary style (it’s effectively a commercial advertisement) starring Sub Pop art directors, Jeff Kleinsmith and Sasha Barr, as well as Lacey Swain, Sub Pop’s own go-to emcee. The doc highlights the Sub Pop Mega Mart art installation, some limited-edition SP merch items, and the fact that we’re interested in selling you these things. If you’ve ever been a fan of Sub Pop and/or any Sub Pop recording artists, there’s definitely something for you at the Sub Pop Mega Mart; located at 6003 12th Ave S. Seattle, WA 98108 in Seattle’s historic Georgetown neighborhood. Bring quarters, there are Sub Pop gumballs.

If you’re in Seattle tonight, we’re hosting the big, hard launch marking the official, official opening (there were a few snafus the first time around). There will be donuts, DJs from KEXP, and good times. Details here.

Pissed Jeans are back with another subtly astounding video for “Romanticize Me”, off of their excellent release, Honeys. Watch “Romanticize Me” in the accompanying player.

Pissed Jeans are playing Sub Pop’s Silver Jubilee on Saturday, July 13th in Seattle’s historic Georgetown neighborhood. This event is free and boasts a line-up of past and present artists in the SubPopsphere and it’s a free event. The Silver Jubilee is free. More information can be found here.

His Electro Blue Voice are the newest artists on the Sub Pop roster and their label debut, [ahem] Ruthless Sperm comes out on August 20th. Listen to the sonic barrage that is the accompanying track, “Sea Bug”, from said record.

Watch the lyric video for “Don’t Give Up”, the second peek into the imagination of Washed Out’s Ernest Greene as it’s manifested into the August 13th release of the bands’ forthcoming Paracosm. The song’s visual accompaniment continues in the rich, hazy vein that Washed Out has established with the dream-like Paracosm album trailer and the first track released for "the equally magical “It All Feels Right.”